It's Complicated
by SoulSoother59
Summary: As a set designer for WWE, Callista 'Callie' Kendrick is on the road quite a lot. Trying to balance her fellow employee ex-husband, her eight year old and a casual relationship without any of them colliding with each other can be a tough job. When legitimate heat forms between her and another superstar, it threatens to spill into her personal life, making it even more complicated.
1. Say What You Need To Say

_**A/N:**_ So, this is my first new story in a very looong time. I have updated my profile and I have deleted a few stories that I feel were weighing me down. I've popped a little explanation up on my profile if you want to take a look at that. I really hope that you enjoy this!

 _Pronunciation:_ Eisele - Eyes-Lee

 _ **Chapter One**_

"Fuck, Rami...harder, _"_ the words were whispered on the tail-end of a breathless moan. Hands framed her face, fingers moving upwards to brush her long hair back from her face; the strands damp from the perspiration that was slowly forming across both of their bodies. Callie's green eyes opened and she met Rami's gaze, his eyes hooded with lust. He pressed his forehead against hers, chest heaving as he struggled to regain his breath. Callie let out a groan, her limbs straining from the way that she had wrapped her legs around him. Her lips parted and another moan dropped from them as Rami's hips snapped up to meet hers in a particularly hard thrust.

"You feel so good," Rami whispered, leaning forward to kiss her. " _So good!_ " he reiterated, his tongue slipping into her mouth to silence anymore words from her. Primal instinct took over and they both lost themselves in each other. Callie pushed her hips into his, arching her back to try and control the speed of their movements, her arms roping around his neck to help support herself. Surrounding Callie's waist with one strong arm, Rami pulled her down against him harder. His other hand slipped down to toy with that tiny bundle of nerves at her centre; he was close but he'd be damned if he was going to fall over the edge without bringing her there first.

A long drawn out moan sounded from Callie's lips followed by another curse word as she climaxed, wave upon wave of pleasure rolling over her. Her body bucked in his arms as she rode it out, hips thrusting erratically as she pulled Rami over the edge too, feeling him spill himself inside of her, a guttural groan leaving him, his head dropping forwards to her chest, fingers gripping her waist tightly.

The couple; out of breath from their activities, rested against one another for a few moments before Rami flopped backwards, pulling Callie down with him to the bed. He lay back, moving one hand beneath his head to prop himself up, a lazy smile forming on his lips as Callie readjusted herself above him, one leg framing either side of his hips now.

"That was..." Rami started but then trailed off.

"Yeah, it was," Callie agreed, warmth colouring her cheeks slightly. She smiled as Rami reached up to snag one of her blonde curls, rubbing the strands between his fingers for a moment before he curled his hand around her neck, pulling her down to kiss her again. Their mouths fused together, tongues lazily tangling.

"Will you stay for a while?" Rami asked as they parted.

"I can't," Callie replied, managing to extract herself from his grip. She pushed herself up off the bed and headed towards the little en-suite bathroom. "I have to get to the arena. Do you mind if I grab a shower?" she asked but was already shutting the door before Rami could reply.

* * *

Sitting on the stage, Callie folded her legs together and looked up at the Titantron. Her laptop was open in front of her and showing a mock up model of the set design for the upcoming pay-per-view. Narrowing her eyes, Callie chewed on the inside of her cheek, considering her next idea carefully. She was working simultaneously on the model for the pay-per-view and on the set up for tonight's live Monday Night RAW.

"How are you guys doing up there with the lights?" the blonde picked up the small wireless radio that was lying next to her. A fuzzy sounding static burst through the speaker from the other side and then Freddie; her fellow set designer, spoke through the speaker.

"We're having a bit of an issue with securing some of the spots up here. Fancy popping up and seeing if you can give us a hand?" he asked. His words were unclear and drawn together by his strong British accent but after several years of working with him, Callie had adapted to understanding what he was saying.

"Just give me a minute," she replied, pushing herself up to her feet. A loud thud from behind her drew her attention to the ring and she stopped to watch the action going on down there for a few moments. Colby 'Seth Rollins' Lopez and his close friend Joe 'Roman Reigns' Anoa'i were currently sparring in the ring with each other. The two of them were locked up and engaged in a battle of strength and wills and it was clear that the bigger man was going to win. He easily overpowered Colby with his brute bulk and knocked the more slender of the two superstars backwards on his ass. Colby let out a laugh and flipped back up to his feet, his quickness easily allowing him to turn the tables on Joe. Scrabbling across the ring, he jumped on Joe from behind, his long limbs locking around Joe's body, hands secured around his head. He began to squeeze his arms together around Joe's head, forcing his friend into a sleeper hold.

Callie watched as Joe flailed, trying to pull Colby off of his back but the Iowan superstar held on relentlessly, putting more strain on the bigger man. Tearing her eyes away from the duo, Callie headed backstage to the other side of the titantron. Opening the door to the stairs, she headed up to the rafters above the arena.

* * *

The walkway vibrated and lurched slightly as Callie made her way across it, heading over to where Freddie and Benji were struggling to secure a large spotlight to the metal rafter.

"Are you guys okay?" Callie asked, crouching down next to them. She got on her hands and knees and leaned towards them.

"Not really!" Benji groaned, his body swaying one way as he struggled to hold the spotlight in place and at the correct angle. The light was heavy and they had already attached the hood to the front of it which wasn't helping with the weight issue.

"So, if you two hold it and I use the wrench to secure it. Let's see if that works," Callie slid closer to the two of them and picked up the wrench. As Benji and Freddie held it in place, Callie quickly pushed the bolts into place and used the wrench to secure it. With each bolt that tightened, the strain on Freddie and Benji lessened. Finally, the three of them sat back and let out a breath; the two guys sighing and wiping their foreheads with the backs of their forearms.

"Thanks Callie," Benji smiled at her. "I thought we were going to lose it at one point," he explained.

Callie glanced over the edge of the walkway, noting that they were almost above the ring.

"Which would not have been good," she chuckled, causing the other two to laugh with her. A light childish giggle drew her attention away from her two colleagues and her eyes dropped down to the ring again. Her stomach clenched at what she saw and she was on her feet in a moment, excusing herself from Benji and Freddie's company.

Heading back down the walkway and down the stairs, Callie marched briskly out onto the stage and down the ramp towards the ring. The sight that greeted her had her stomach churning. Colby was in the ring alone and he was currently showing her 8 year old daughter how to perform a 'Curb Stomp'. Callie watched as he rocked against the ropes and ran towards the centre of the ring, jumping high in the air before bringing his foot down to stomp against the mat; the bottom of his foot striking his invisible opponent. She continued to watch as her little girl followed his movements and copied the move exactly, letting out a giggle when Colby laughed and ruffled her hair.

"Well done, kid," he chuckled. "You'll be giving me a run for my money soon," he laughed, his head lolling back, a gleeful smile on his face.

"Eisele!" Callie barked, drawing the attention of her daughter and of Colby. Both of them looked to her, their identical smiles making her stomach clench. Callie let out a breath, trying to dampen down her anger. "It's time to go," she told her daughter. "Out of the ring, c'mon!"

"But Daddy said that I could play in the ring for a bit!" Eisele protested, the smile falling from her face to be replaced with a slight pout and sad eyes.

"And where is Daddy right now?" Callie asked, her eyes looking around for him. There were several other superstars gathered around the ring. Some were waiting to get in the ring, some were discussing their upcoming matches and some had congregated in a small huddle by the announcing area. Callie managed to pick out her ex-husband within the group and she narrowed her eyes in his direction.

"We were just messing around, Callie," Colby tried to explain. "I was just showing the kid my finishing move, no harm done."

"I think that I'll decide that for myself, thank you," Callie sniped, her focal point still on the father of her child who was chatting with a few of his friends over at the other side of the ring. "Her father is supposed to be watching her! And you are most certainly not allowed to teach my child how to perform a 'Curb Stomp'. She's eight years old!" Callie brought her attention back to Colby and explained how she felt about what was going on. He held his hands up, trying to indicate that he meant no harm but Callie continued on. "What gave you the idea that I would be okay with something like this? What is going on in that brain of yours, Colby!?" Callie had to watch her language, refraining from swearing in front of her kid. "Eisele! I said get out of the ring, please!" she looked to her daughter and she felt her resolve beginning to crumble at the look on her daughter's face.

"Okay, Mommy," Eisele managed to slip through the space between the bottom and middle ropes, stomping down the stairs and moving to Callie's side. Callie took her daughter's hand and looked up at Colby who was leaning over the ropes towards her.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he tried to apologise but Callie could tell he was being anything but serious and he thought that she was overreacting. It was always the same when it came from someone who wasn't a parent. Before Callie had gotten pregnant with Eisele, she wouldn't have given a care in the world but now that she had a child of her own to raise, every little thing that Eisele did left her feeling on the edge of her seat with worry.

Callie didn't answer Colby and she moved towards the other side of the ring, gearing herself up for a confrontation with her ex-husband.

"Brian!" she called, a small portion of her anger slipping into her speech. His hazel eyes met hers and he excused himself from his group of friends to approach Callie and his daughter. He held his arms out and Callie let go of Eisele's hand so that she could jump into her father's arms.

"Hi, munchkin! Did you fun in the ring with Colby?" he smiled, tucking a lock of Eisele's blonde hair behind her ear.

"I did," she mumbled. "But Mommy said I've not to go back in the ring," she frowned, her bottom lip wobbling slightly.

"Mommy said that, did she?" Brian asked and looked to Callie, a confused expression on his face.

"Yes, I did say that," Callie propped her hands on her hips, a look of sheer disappointment on her features. "Eisele is here to spend time with you, Brian. She's not here to be passed off onto your colleagues," Callie tried to keep her voice calm, not wanting their daughter to witness them fighting.

"And I am spending time with her," the current Cruiserweight Champion explained. "I have been with her the whole day, Callie. And I was watching her when she was in the ring."

Reaching her their daughter, Callie lifted her out of Brian's arms and set her down on the ground. Gently brushing her hand over Eisele's head, Callie bent down and whispered to her daughter. She pointed over to Ashley 'Charlotte' Fleihr and Pamela 'Bayley' Martinez who were sitting discussing their upcoming match at the side of the ring. Eisele did as she asked and went over to join them, laughing when Pamela pulled her down onto her lap, peppering her face with multiple kisses and squeezing her tightly.

"So, you're okay with Colby teaching our daughter how to perform a 'Curb Stomp'?" Callie asked, turning her attention back to Brian. Her ex-husband was only slightly taller than her - Callie stood at 5 ft 5", whilst Brian stood at 5 ft 7"; thus making it far easier for the two of them to have a full blown argument without Callie feeling overwhelmed.

"She was perfectly safe in the ring with Colby," Brian insisted. "Do you think for one minute that I would have allowed her to get in there if I didn't think that she would be okay? I am her father after all and I would never let anything bad happen to her."

Callie bit her tongue and let out a deep sigh. She felt all of the fight leave her body. The look on Brian's face was telling her that she was hurting him by accusing him of being a bad parent and that had not been her intention at all. Her main priority was the safety of her child and she was just trying to drive that point home.

"I'm not insinuating that you would, Brian. I know that you love her but letting her get in that ring when you are not watching her is dangerous. Too dangerous in fact and I would really appreciate it if you didn't let that happen again," Callie told him. "Look, I know that we don't have the easiest of family situations and it's not great with you being on the road and me working for the company as well but we make it work to the best of our ability. I want Eisele to have a stable upbringing. And I don't want her getting in that ring."

"Look, I know that you don't like the ring and for good reason, Callie. But you have to respect the fact that I want Eisele to know what her Dad does. I want her to be able to experience this world and what it offers. I don't want her to..."

"She's eight, Brian. Eight!" Callie snapped. "She doesn't need to train in the ring. Obviously we're not going to see eye-to-eye on this so let's just agree to disagree. I don't have a problem with Eisele getting in the ring...when she is old enough! And that is much further down the line that right now."

Callie called Eisele back over to them. Their daughter managed to extract herself from Pamela's grip and she ran back over to them, jumping up and down on the spot next to Callie.

"Say goodbye to Daddy, Eisele," Callie told her. "He's got to start prepping for his match tonight and you have homework to do," Eisele's face fell at the idea of doing her schoolwork.

"Homework! Ewwww!" Brian cried out, making a funny face as he picked Eisele up and twirled her around, earning a rambunctious giggle from his daughter. The father-daughter duo bid goodbye to each other and Callie made plans with Brian to meet up after the show and take their daughter for dinner.

As Callie and Eisele made their way back around the ring towards the ramp, Callie leaned down and brushed a kiss over her daughter's head, squeezing her hand tightly.

"A little birdy told me that Gage is backstage," Callie told Eisele, referring to Bill Goldberg's son. "How about we just scratch all that boring homework and you and Gage can have some fun?"

"Really?" Eisele's little face lit up with the idea of having someone her own age to play with.

"As long as his Mommy and Daddy are okay with it then I don't see why not," Callie told her, laughing when Eisele pumped her fist in the air and shouted 'Yes' at the top of her voice.

She drew her eyes away from her daughter and they began to head up the ramp. The back of her neck prickled and she looked behind her, her eyes meeting Colby's brown ones.

It was a bit of a standoff between them for a few moments, neither blinked, neither looked away; just deep brown straight on green. Colby lifted his mouth slightly into a smirk and Callie turned away, heading backstage with her daughter.


	2. Someone Like You

**_Chapter Two_**

"Do you think that I overeacted?" Callie asked, raking her teeth over her bottom lip. She cupped her hands around the mug of black coffee that Karina handed her. As Karina sat down at the other side of the table, she made a funny noise in the back of her throat. "What?" Callie asked, swallowing a sip of coffee.

"Define overreacted?" Karina asked, also drinking her coffee. Callie sighed, her shoulders drooping, the expression on her face telling Karina that she was stressed out about what had happened between herself and Colby the previous week. "I mean, I get why you did what you did," Karina smiled softly at her. "But, Colby doesn't know why you acted that way."

"So?" Callie shrugged. "I shouldn't have to explain every decision that I make concerning my daughter. He shouldn't have been in the ring with her and that's that," Callie tried to sound as firm as possible but inside her gut was still gnawing over the way she had behaved. Maybe Karina had a point? Maybe she shouldn't have scolded him the way that she did?

"Well, if that's how you feel, girl, why are you so damn fussy over what happened? It's not like you and Colby are the best of friends on any given day. I highly doubt you've done more than bruise that ego of his."

"Yeah, I guess," Callie agreed, gnawing on her bottom lip. "What would you have done if it was Élodie?"

"Oh, I would have eviscerated Kevin! And Colby! Without a doubt!" Karina replied confidently, causing Callie to laugh at her.

The sound of the front door opening interrupted the conversation between the two women and soon the house was filled with three loud, male voices. Kevin and Rami walked through the door, Kevin carrying Owen on his shoulders, his son laughing at something he had said. As Callie laid eyes on Rami, she felt a little shiver of anticipation skip through her. He smiled and she smiled back before breaking eye contact with him and returning her gaze to her cup of coffee.

"What are you girls up to?" Kevin asked, popping Owen back onto his own two feet. "No good, I expect," he added with a wry smirk on his face.

"It's always good to see you too, Kevin," Callie responded, leaning back in her seat slightly. "So, I should get going, my flight to New York is in a couple of hours."

"You're going to the city?" Rami asked, his voice low, barely audible in the kitchen. Callie looked to him and nodded as she stood up, finishing off the last of her coffee.

"Yeah, well sort of. I've got a meeting with Stephanie, Shane and Paul in the morning concerning the Wrestlemania set design. I think there's a couple of issues to sort before the construction is finalised," she explained. Turning to Karina, she hugged her friend goodbye and then received what could only be described as bear hug from Kevin. "Thanks," she replied, patting his back gently as she tried to regain her breath. She moved around the table, approaching Rami. He leaned towards her, his arms surrounding her smaller frame with ease, pulling her into his embrace. Callie placed her cheek against his, her breasts pressing against his chest.

"I'll see you later," she whispered in his ear, her lips moving gently against his earlobe.

"See you soon," he told her, squeezing her back in what he tried to make seem like a friendly gesture.

Neither Callie nor Rami had told anyone about their relationship, if you could call it that. It was still new to them and they wanted to explore what was between them before deciding if they would take things public. As it stood, Callie was comfortable with the way things were, not wanting to involve a man in her daughter's life unless it was necessary.

Karina watched the exchange between her two friends, curiosity niggling at her. She wore a coy smile on her face and she watched them embrace and made a mental note to ask Callie about the next time she saw her.

* * *

RAW was emanating from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Callie had flown in just for the show and was heading back to Florida the following night. She'd left Eisele at home; her daughter currently being looked after by Callie's sister, Victoria.

As she made her way from Catering to the gorilla position, Callie heard the one voice that she hadn't been looking forward to. Colby's laugh burst through the air and she turned the corner to see him cracking a joke with one of his best friends, Joe and his opponent for the evening, Paul Wight.

Watching him, Callie felt her stomach churning. She knew that apologising to him for her behaviour was the right thing to do but she had the strangest feeling that he would find some way to ridicule her. He just had that type of personality where everything was one big joke. It was fine if he had no responsibilities but she did. And not everything was a laughing matter to her anymore.

Gathering her courage, she moved towards the group and things instantly quieted down when she reached up to tap Colby on the shoulder. He whirled around and Callie jumped back, unprepared for him to turn so quickly. She stumbled and he instantly reached out, steadying her on her feet, his palms planted on her waist.

"Oh, geez, ummm... thanks," she told him, correcting her balance. His hands remained where they were and a heat began to form at the back of Callie's neck. Finally, Colby stepped back, a small smirk on his face. Great! He's already feeling cocky about himself.

Callie rubbed the back of her hand across her forehead, opening her mouth to speak.

"Look, I just wanted to say sorry about the way I blew my top last week. I was really upset at seeing Eisele in the ring and that you were teaching her a 'Curb Stomp'. However, that's still no excuse for my outburst," she explained.

"Hey, it's cool, don't worry about it. You're the mom. You know what's best for the kid," he told her with a non-committed shrug of his shoulders.

His words niggled at Callie a little and she felt like he was just going through the motions, not really interested in what she had to say or the fact that she had a genuine case to make against her daughter being in the ring.

"Yeah, I am the mom, I'm her mom. I just think that you don't appreciate how dangerous the ring can be. Which surprises me, considering how long you were on the shelf with that knee injury," Callie quipped, furrowing her eyebrows at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said. You, of all people should know just how dangerous the ring is and that's why I don't understand why you thought it was alright to take my daughter in there. I fully accept blame on my part for snapping at you the way that I did but I'm still not sure that you understand where I am coming from."

Colby ran a hand over his face with his hand, letting out a groan as he did so.

"Look, like you said, you're the mom and you make the rules. I won't break 'em next time," he attempted to turn away but Callie stopped him.

"You are the most infuriating man on the planet, Colby!" she told him, her voice raising to a higher volume. "You're unbelievable. Here, I am, apologising for biting your head off last week and all you can say is 'You're the mom'," she added, her fingers making air quotes. "You could at least be man enough and accept where you went wrong. But I guess that's too much to ask from a guy like you. My mistake!" she shook her head and turned to walk in the other direction, heading for the gorilla.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? A guy like me?" he called after her.

"Use that brain of yours to figure it out!" Callie yelled back and continued walked, not wanting to deal with him anymore.

* * *

Callie stomped down the corridor, huffing and puffing as she mulled over what Colby had said. She wanted to go back and literally smack him across the back of the head for being so dumb. He literally could not see or admit where he was wrong and that filled her with an incensed rage.

A 'pssst' sound came from her right-hand side but Callie ignored it until she heard it again. Looking around, she saw that the door to one of the locker rooms was ajar. The sound came again and she moved closer to investigate, jumping when a hand wrapped around her wrist.

Rami laughed, the sound filling the air as he popped his head around the door.

"You asshole! You scared me!" Callie snapped but her face broke out into a large grin. She moved her fingers and intertwined them with Rami's, squeezing his hand.

"Your face was a picture, honestly," he told her, still chuckling. "Aren't you going to come in?"

Looking around her, she saw that the corridor was completely deserted but she knew that she had to get to the gorilla soon.

"I…I don't think I have time, I need to get to the gorilla and get set up. And what if someone sees?"

"No one is around, Callie. And there's always time," Rami tugged on her hand, a lascivious grin on his face as he pulled her inside and shut the door.


	3. Hook, Line and Sinker

**Chapter Three**

Callie was positively fizzing as she stormed through the doors to Eisele's school. She was in the process of making her way to the Principle's office after she had received a call from the man informing her that her daughter had been involved in an altercation with another child.

The call had come through just as she was meeting with Shane McMahon, Jet Prickett, one of the stage managers and Michael 'Michael Seitz' Hayes, one of the senior producers in the company. She had proceeded to profusely apologise before having to cut the meeting short. As soon as she mentioned Eisele, Shane had waved her off, telling her to go and make sure her daughter was okay. It was one the things that Callie loved about Shane; family trumped work every day of life.

The school halls were deserted at this time as lessons were still going on. Callie stomped towards the Principle's office, intent on finding out just what her daughter had been up to. The Principle hadn't disclosed to Callie over the phone just what had occurred and who was responsible for the incident - but Callie knew her daughter well - and knew that she was most likely to blame for whatever had happened.

Upon rounding the corner to the office, Callie saw Eisele perched on a seat outside of the office, casually swinging her feet back and forth, hands tucked under her knees. The expression on her eight year old's face was one of undisputed innocence.

"Mommy!" Eisele shouted upon setting eyes on Callie. "I'm so happy to see you," she stood from her seat and proceeded to wrap her arms securely around her mother's waist, pressing her cheek to Callie's stomach. Callie sighed and made a face, patting the back of her daughter's head gently. She pulled back to look down at her and tried to force her face into a stern expression.

"What happened this time?" Callie asked, raising an eyebrow at her daughter. Eisele was no stranger to occurrences such as this.

The little girl hung her head slightly before meeting her mother's eyes. She twisted her lips slightly, evidently not keen on confessing what had happened.

"There was a girl and she was saying some bad things to me. She made me feel bad, Mommy. So I-I-I I got her back by putting her in that move that Daddy does."

Callie couldn't contain her shock and let out a gasp.

"What move that Daddy does?" she demanded, anger creeping onto her face.

"The submission one, you know, the 'Captain's Hook'," Eisele answered, illustrating her point by using her arms to show Callie what she meant.

"Eisele! You-You can't be going around and wrestling the other kids in the playground, sweetheart, you just-"

"Mrs Kendrick!" A voice came from a few metres down the hallway.

"It's Ms!" Callie corrected, not appreciating the fact that the Principle didn't know or care about the parenting situation between Callie and Brian. Callie straightened up to her full height, placing a comforting hand onto her daughter's shoulder.

"May we speak in the office, please?" he asked, and Callie felt her back stiffen at the haughty tone present in his voice. She patted Eisele's shoulder and told her to take a seat before heading towards the office with the Principle.

* * *

The man closed the door behind her and invited her to take a seat. Callie sat and crossed one leg over the other, placing her bag at her feet.

"Ms Kendrick," he started, stressing her name. "Has Eisele informed you of why I called you down here?"

"She explained a little about the situation, yes," Callie said, nervously rubbing her palms on her jean clad thighs.

"So you are in agreement that I'm going to have to suspend her for two weeks?"

"Excuse me?!" Callie questioned. "Two weeks?! I think that is a little excessive, don't you?"

"On the contrary, I think it is an acceptable form of punishment. Eisele injured the other girl involved in the incident with her and irrevocably damaged the young girl's state of mind."

"Damaged her state of mind? I'm not sure I follow," Callie replied aghast. She could barely fathom what she was actually hearing.

"And at the end of the day, I think you will find that Eisele has had this sort of violence instilled upon her from your husband and his _colleagues_ ," the Principle added and Callie could hear the disgust and indignation in his voice.

"What my _ex-husband_ and many of my friends do is a carefully honed craft, I will have you know," Callie narrowed her eyes at the educator. "And I will also inform you that Eisele is not taught and is most certainly not allowed to perform the moves that the athletes do in the ring! I understand that was she did was wrong - very wrong - and I understand that she needs to be punished. However, what is being done to punish the other young girl who insulted my daughter?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me! When I enrolled Eisele in this school, I was promised that you hold a zero tolerance on bullying."

"We do!" he replied indignantly.

"Not from where I am sitting! You are handing my daughter a two week suspension, which let's face it, only serves to negatively effect her education and you are not going to give a single bit of punishment to that other young girl. If you hold a zero tolerance on bullying, I think you will find that emotional bullying can sometimes be worse that physical!"

"Ms Kendrick, I don't think that you under-"

"Oh, I understand perfectly, Mr Ross," Callie said standing from her seat. "I understand that I pay you an exuberant amount of money to educate my child, I understand that I have also donated and raised copious amounts of funds for this school and I also understand that the promise made to me when I enrolled my child here, was nothing but bullshit!

"Ms Kendrick! I beg your-"

"You beg nothing, Mr Ross. I entrusted you with my child. I expected you to take due care and responsibility for her and to educate her to the best of your ability. What I did not expect was to find that you sending the students mixed messages. By allowing them to believe that any one manner of bullying bests another, you are sending them the message that it is okay to mentally hurt someone but not to physically hurt them. And quite frankly, I think that is unacceptable."

"Ms Kendrick!" The Principle tried again, standing up so that he towered over her, eager to make Callie seem inferior.

"Stop saying my name like that, Mr Ross! There is one simple solution in this situation. I will withdraw Eisele from the school and all future funds and/or donations that were going to be made. However, Eisele will be made to handwrite a letter of apology to the child that she hurt and she will deliver it to her before I fully withdraw her from the school," Callie picked her bag up and headed for the door.

"Ms Kendrick, I think that you're blowing this way out of-"

* * *

Callie cut him off by closing the office door behind her and shutting off the noise he was making. She turned to see Callie sitting where she found her, swinging her legs back and forth, her head drooped low. Her little girl looked up when she heard the office door open and she smile sadly at her mother.

"Am I in big trouble, Mommy?" she asked, her voice tiny in the corridor.

Callie licked her lips and approached her daughter, trying to find the words to convey how upset she was. She crouched down to Eisele's level.

"Yes, you are in big trouble, Eisele," Callie told her and her daughter dropped her head again. "Look at me," Callie told her, making Eisele look up at her. There were tears brimming on the edges of her dark eyes. "There's no point in crying, Eisele. What you did was very wrong and you need to understand that. You need to understand that you cannot go around hitting other people or using those moves, they're only for the ring, sweetheart."

"But Daddy-"

"Baby, Daddy spent years training to wrestle. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of discipline. You need to know what you're doing, how much pressure to inflict so that you don't hurt anybody. You could have really hurt that other girl!"

"I know but-"

"There are no buts. You did hurt the other student," Callie sighed. "I know that she said some really mean things to you and she should never have done that. She should be getting punished too. But that's not always how things work. Now, you're going to have to handwrite a letter saying sorry. And I'm going to bring you over next week to give it to her," Callie explained. "I don't want to see that face," she added when she saw Eisele's expression. "After that you never have to come back here again."

"Really?" Eisele's face lit up at the prospect of never setting foot in the school ever again.

"Yes," Callie chuckled. "But that doesn't mean no school. I will need to find you another school." She stood up to full height, reaching for her daughter's hand. "C'mon, lets go and get some pizza and we'll talk more about you and this 'Captain's Hook'."


End file.
